Mayor’s office delays free snack stand roof repair

By Elizabeth Marie Himchak

Rancho Bernardo Community Park’s concession stand would have a new roof by now if it were not for a few days.

Those few days — the switch between Mayor Jerry Sanders’ administration and that of Mayor Bob Filner — mean that in at least some cases, projects started while Sanders was in office are on indefinite hold, according to Nick Anastasopoulos, Rancho Bernardo Recreation Council president.

“It’s bad luck timing,” he said.

For the last four years the concession stand’s roof has been in need of repairs, Anastasopoulos said, who described its condition as “rotting.”

“The city, of course, does not have money to fix it, so I stepped in, as rec council president, and contacted a contractor who said he would take the lead to get the necessary work completed,” he said.

That was more than a year ago. Brian Duggan, president of Roof King Roofing in Vista, said he would not only do the work but would do it for free.

“It was about the time people stole wiring out of the (park) lights,” Duggan said, who knew Anastasopoulos because of previous jobs.

Rather than submitting a bid for the job — around $10,000 in repairs — Duggan said he wanted to do it as a gift to the community.

“I had done a fairly large project in Nick’s (homeowners association) community and in Rancho Bernardo,” Duggan said. “I thought it better to give back to the community where I was doing work.”

“I was pleasantly surprised,” Anastasopoulos said about Duggan’s offer since he did not request the repairs be done for free.

The two- or three-day job would require stripping the concrete tile roof, replacing or repairing the deteriorating lumber, installing a new roof and some paint to finish it off. Duggan’s crew would provide the labor, suppliers he works with — Eagle Tile and Sharkskin Underlayment — would donate the materials and Protech Painting would do the painting, Duggan said.

It took almost a year for the project to get the green light.

“The city said the job must first be offered to city workers,” Anastasopoulos said. “Then if (Duggan) is to do the job, he must complete a right-of-entry permit and go through a bunch of red tape, which he has and believe it or not, finally after a year, he finally got approval.”

Duggan received notice on Nov. 16 that the city was ready for him to sign the right-of-entry permit paperwork in the next couple of weeks, which was done Dec. 5. He said a city staffer told him he would be provided the permit in a couple of weeks, so he scheduled his crew to start the project on Jan. 28.

But the permit was never issued.

Anastasopoulos said once Filner became mayor on Dec. 3 all projects that were in the works were put on hold until he could review them. He said a city staffer told him the concession stand permit is one of many that are being held up, with no approval time frame in sight.

“It’s the rainy season and we have a messed-up snack stand,” Anastasopoulos said. “Can’t it be put on the top of the pile? This is for the kids.”

“With the new mayor, we’re back to square one,” Duggan said.

Mayor Filner’s office did not respond to repeated requests by the Rancho Bernardo News Journal for comment.